Apologetic letters against the desecration of holy icons

John of Damascus (8th century) wrote three famous sermons against those who reject holy icons. Damascene is the first of the Church Fathers to give a theological justification for the veneration of icons, basing it on the biblical truth about the incarnation of God the Logos and other previous apologetic writings in defense of icons. This is the first translation of his sermons on icons into the Serbian language. The translation is not complete: the translator selected the main parts, especially the first and third sermons, i.e. those parts that are the most important for understanding Damascene's theological foundation of veneration of icons, and which had a great influence on later authors as well. (II, 4) The enemy of the truth and the opponent of the salvation of men, who in his time deceived not only the polytheists but even the children of Israel themselves into making images of demons and godless men and birds and animals and reptiles, and worshiping them as gods, is now trying to bring unrest into the peaceful Church of God, with the mouth of the unjust and the tongue of the cunning words of God, inciting evil and trying to make its ugliness and dark vision cover up and move the hearts of the faithful from the true custom handed down to the Fathers (III, 2). Because some stood up saying that Christ's saving miracles and sufferings, as well as the heroic exploits of the Saints against the devil, should not be painted and proposed for viewing and celebration and admiration and zeal. And who does not see among those who have divine knowledge and spiritual wisdom that this is a devil's subterfuge? Because he does not want his defeat and shame to be published nor the glory of God and his Saints to be described. (II, 5) And indeed, if we were to make an image (icon) of the invisible God, we would be wrong, because it is impossible to depict what is incorporeal and formless, invisible and indescribable. If we again make images (icons) of people and consider them gods and serve them as gods, we are really working impiously. However, we do none of these things. Because it is not a sin if we paint an icon of God who became incarnate and manifested himself bodily on earth n by unspeakable goodness lived with people, and took upon himself the nature and weight and shape and color of the body. It is only an expression of our longing to see His image. Because as the divine Apostle says: "Now we see in a mirror and in a riddle" (1. Cor. 13:12). And an icon is a mirror and a riddle suitable for the weight of our body. Because according to the words of the divine Gregory, no matter how hard the mind tries, it is not able to get out of the carnality. (II, 6; III, 3) O unrepentant, envious devil, it is your fault that we see the Bishop's likeness, likeness (omioma) and that through him we take revenge and see His saving sufferings and that we admire His condescension, that we contemplate His miracles and know and celebrate the power of His divinity. You envy the Saints for the honor that God has given them. You don't want us to look at their glory described and become zealous for their courage and faith. You can't stand the physical and mental benefits we get from believing in them. But we will not submit to you, envious, demon and man-hater! Listen, peoples, tribes, languages, people, women, children, old people, young men, infants, peoples of Christian saints: If someone preaches to you different from what the Catholic Church received from the holy Apostles, Fathers and Council and preserved until now, do not listen to him and do not accept the serpent's advice, as Eve received it and wished for death. Whether an angel or a king preaches to you otherwise than what you have received, close your ears. Hoping for a correction, I hesitate to say for now what the divine Paul said: "(such a one) be damned!" ( Gal. 1:8 ). (II, 7; III, 4) But those who do not investigate the meaning of the Scriptures say that God said through Moses the lawgiver: "You shall not make for yourself an image of what is in heaven or what is on earth" (Ex. 20,4; Deuteronomy 5:8): and through the prophet David: "Let all those who worship carved (objects) and who boast of their idols be ashamed" (Ps. 96,7) and much more. similar to this, because everything they mentioned from the Holy Scriptures and from the Holy Fathers has the same meaning. So what should we say to this? What else but what the Lord said to the Jews: "Search the Scriptures" (Jn. 5:39); because it is good to search the Scriptures. However, pay close attention here! It is impossible, beloved, that God lies. Because there is one God, one Lawgiver of the Old and New Testaments, who in ancient times spoke in many ways and in various ways to the Fathers through the prophets and in the last times through His Only Begotten Son. Therefore, be careful, the word is not mine. The Holy Spirit revealed through of St. Paul "In many ways and in various ways God once spoke to the fathers through the prophets" (Hebrews 1.1) Do you see that God spoke in many ways and in many ways. For just as a skilled physician does not always give the same kind of medicine to everyone, but to each one he gives the appropriate and appropriate medicine, distinguishing both the place and the disease and the moment, i.e. time and condition and age; one gives to a child and another to an adult; one to the sick and another to the healthy, moreover, he does not give the same to every sick person, but according to the condition and disease.One medicine is given in summer and another in winter, in autumn and in spring and in each place according to the circumstances. Likewise, the excellent Physician of souls forbade the making of images to those who are still (spiritual) infants and who suffer from the disease of idolatry, who regard idols as gods and worship them as gods, and who offer the glory of God to things. Because it is impossible to make an image (icon) of God who is incorporeal and invisible and non-artificial, who has neither form nor description nor comprehensibility. How is it possible to picture what is unseen? "No one has ever seen God: the only begotten Son who is in the arms of the Father, he will reveal him" (Jn. 1:18); and "No one will see my face and live" (Ex. 33:20) said God. (II, 8; III, 5) And if they worshiped idols as gods, listen to what the Holy Scriptures say about that. At the time of the exodus of the children of Israel, when Moses climbed Mount Sinai and departed, waiting to receive the Law from God, the ungrateful people rebelled, saying to Aaron the servant of God: "Make us gods who will go before us; for this man Moses, we do not know what to do with him" (Ex. 32,14,6). delusion and began to play, saying foolishly: "These are your gods, O Israel" (Ex. 32:4). Do you see that they had idols for gods, they did not even make an idol of Zeus or this or that (deity), but they gave gold to make an idol of anyone, and the head of a calf would come out. So they had those castings as gods and they worshiped them as gods, which was the abode of demons. they served the creature and not the Creator, this is also confirmed by the divine Apostle: "They replaced the glory of the incorruptible God with the likeness of corruptible man and birds and quadrupeds and reptiles and served creatures instead of the Creator" (Rom. 1:25). That's why God forbids the making of every likeness (occasion) as Moses says in Deuteronomy: "And the Lord spoke to you out of the fire: you heard a voice, but you did not see the likeness, but the voice", and a little later: "Keep your souls strong, because you will not see the likeness, on the day when the Lord speaks to you on Mount Horeb from the fire, lest you fall into lawlessness and make for yourself a carved likeness, every image, the likeness of a man or a woman, the likeness of every animals of those that are on earth, the likeness of every winged bird", etc.; and a little later: "So that when he looked at the sky and saw the sun and the moon and the stars and all the ornaments of the sky, he did not fall into error and worshiped them and served them" (Ponz 4,1517; 4,19). (1,4) (And I) know the one who truthfully said: "The Lord your God, the Lord is one", and "bow down to the Lord your God and worship Him alone", and "you shall have no other gods" (Pont. 6,4.14; Matt. 4,10; Pont.5:7); and "do not make any graven image (likeness), of what is in heaven above and what is on the earth below" (Pont 5,8), and "let all those who worship graven images be ashamed" (Ps. 96:7), and "the gods who did not create the heavens and the earth will perish" (Jer. 10:11); and everything that "from long ago God spoke to the fathers through the prophets, in these last days he spoke to us in his only begotten Son, through whom he also created the ages" (Heb. 1:12). I know the one who said: "And this is eternal life that they may know you the only true God and whom you sent Jesus Christ" (Jn. 17:3). I believe in one God, the only principle of everything, beginningless, uncreated, imperishable and immortal, eternal and eternal, incomprehensible, incorporeal, invisible, indescribable, formless, one superexistent essence, superdivine Deity, in three Persons (hypostases), the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and to him alone do I worship and to him alone do I offer worship. I worship one God, one Godhead, but I also worship the Three Persons, God the Father and God the Son incarnate and God the Holy Spirit, one God... I do not worship matter instead of the Creator, but I worship the Creator who created what is mine and descended into matter unabashedly and unchangeably, in order to glorify my nature and make it a sharer of the divine nature. Together with the Emperor and God, I also bow to the "porphyry" of (His) body, not as a suit or as a fourth person (so that it should not be!) but as what has become and remains collectively divine, as (God's) anointed, in an unchanging way. For the nature of the flesh (of Christ) did not become Divinity, but just as the Logos became flesh and unchangeably remained what it was, so the flesh became the Logos without losing what it is, identified with the Logos by hypostasis. Hence I also have the audacity to depict the invisible God, but not as invisible, but as the one who has become visible to us, through the communion of flesh and blood. Therefore, I am not portraying the invisible Deity, but I am portraying the visible body of God. Because if it is impossible to paint a soul, that is all the more true for God himself who gave an immaterial soul. (1,6) Now you see that he has one goal (what Moses says): not to serve the creature instead of the Creator and not to offer worship to the Creator alone. That is why Moses everywhere adds worship to worship, and says again: "Thou shalt have no other gods besides me" (Deuteronomy 5:79). (I, 7) As you can see, the painting of figures is prohibited due to idolatry, as well as the fact that it is impossible to portray the qualityless and indescribable and invisible God... "You have not, it is said, seen his face" (Jn. 5:37). This is also what the Apostle Paul said when he stood in the middle of the Areopagus: "Since we are the offspring of God, we should not think that the Godhead is like gold or silver, or stone cut by skill and human imagination" (Acts 17:29). (1,8) This was established as a law for the Jews because of their tendency to idolatry. And we, theologically speaking, who escaped from superstitious error, who were given to be in purity with God, who knew the truth and that we serve the only God and enrich ourselves with the perfection of the knowledge of God, in order to reach the perfect husband, having passed childhood are no longer under a teacher, because we received the gift of reasoning from God and knew what is what can be imaged and what is indescribable. Because it was said: "His face you have not seen" (Jn. 5:37). How wonderful is the wisdom of the Lawgiver! How to describe the invisible? How to describe the qualitative and non-magnificent and indeterminable! How to shape the formless! How to describe the qualitative and non-magnificent and indeterminable! How to shape the formless! How to express the incorporeal with color?! What then is that which is mysteriously revealed to us? It is clear that you will not portray the invisible God. But when you see The incorporeal one who became man for your sake, then you will make the image of a human figure. When the Invisible becomes visible with a body, then you will form the image of the Seen: when the Incorporeal and formless, unquantifiable and unmagnified by the predominance of his nature, when He who exists in the form of God, receives the form of a servant, is condensed (gathered) to the quality and quantity and wraps himself in the form of a body, then the One who was thus received to be visible is drawn on tablets and placed for viewing. Picture, therefore, his unspeakable condescension, his birth from the Virgin, his baptism in the Jordan, his transfiguration on Tabor, the sufferings that caused his passion, the miraculous symbols of his divine nature, which are created through the action of the body by divine action, then the saving cross, the burial, the resurrection, the ascension to heaven. Describe all that in words and colors... Don't be afraid and don't be afraid: I also know the difference between the types of bowing. Once upon a time, Abraham bowed down to the sons of Emor, when he bought a double cave for a tomb, and that for heathen people, suffering from ignorance of the (true) God. Jacob bowed to his brother Esau and to Pharaoh the Egyptian, and he bowed to the top of the staff. They worshiped but did not serve him as God. Joshua and Danilo bowed down to the angel of God, but they did not worship him. Because the second is worshipful worship and the second is offered as a tribute to those who are elevated by some dignity. (1,9) But since we are talking about icons and worship, let us explain this word about them. An icon is an image (likeness) that characterizes the original by possessing a certain difference in relation to it. Because the icon is not similar in all respects to the pralik (archetype). On the other hand, the living icon of the invisible God, natural and unchanging, the Son, who carries within himself the whole Father, has in everything the sameness with him, differing only in causality. Because the Father is the natural cause and the Son is the caused. The Father is not from the Son, but the Son is from the Father. Of course, it is from him, but there will be no being after him, i.e. after the Father who gave birth to him. (1,10) And in God there are icons and paradigms (prototypes) of what came from him, i.e. his pre-eternal counsel, eternally the same. Because that which is Divine is in all things immutable and there is no change or shadow of change in it. St. Dionysius, a profound knower of divine things, who thought about the divinely inspired God, calls these icons and paradigms (prototypes) predestination. Because in him he advises, drawn and painted before his creation, everything that he predestined and that will inevitably be, similar to a man who intends to build a house and first outlines and depicts its plan in his mind. (1.11) In addition to this, there are icons (images) of invisible and indescribable things that are visually imaged for better understanding. In the same way, divine Scripture attributes faces to God and angels. Looking for an explanation for this, the same divine husband says that it could be said that the fact that the faces of indescribable things and the forms of what is formless are used is not the only reason for this, the analogy suitable for us, which is not able to directly rise to mental contemplations, and therefore is realized in itself through inherent and innate analogies (ascensions). Therefore, if the divine word takes care of us and finds from everywhere what uplifts us, giving even things that are simple and inexplicable some faces, then how can it not depict with images things shaped by nature itself, those that man longs for but is unable to see because they are not present? Because through the senses, a kind of imagination is created in the front part of the brain, which is delivered there to the power of reasoning and is stored in the memory. This is also confirmed by the divine Grigorije (Theologian): "No matter how hard the mind tries, it is powerless to get out of the corporeality", but "even what is invisible with God, from the creation of the world with the mind is clearly seen in creatures" (Rom. 1,20; Grigorije Theologian, Sermon 28,44). Hence we see icons (images) in creatures that discreetly reveal to us divine apparitions. As, for example, when we say "holy supreme The Trinity» to be represented by the sun, light and rays, or by a spring that springs up, by water that springs up and a mouth; or: by our mind, word and spirit, or: by the root of a plant, a flower and a scent. (1.12) An icon is also called that which mysteriously outlines what will happen in the future, as for example: the ark and the staff and the vessel, the Holy Virgin; such as the serpent of apparition to the One who destroyed the starry Serpent through the Cross, or the sea, water and cloud to the Spirit of baptism. (1.13) An icon is also called a memory of events or a miracle or an honor, embarrassment, virtue or evil, for the benefit of those who will later go on the path of deification, to avoid evil and be zealous for good. Such an image (icon) is twofold: it is either written down in books as a word, as God engraved the Law on tablets and commanded that the lives of God-loving people be recorded, or by sensory (tangible, aesthetic) seeing, as He commanded (God) that the vessel and staff be placed in the ark (covenant) as a memorial. In the same way, today we paint icons (pictures) of events and virtues. Therefore, we should either reject each image and turn against the one who ordered us to do this, or accept each one according to the meaning and in the way that suits each of them. Touching on the way of depicting (painting) the icon, let's say something about the act of worshiping (her). (1.14) Bowing is a symbol of belonging and respect. We know his different ways. The first (worship) is of the worship type: we offer it only to God, by the nature of worshiping the worthy. Then the worship offered works according to the nature of the worship of the worthy God to his friends and servants, as Joshua and Daniel bowed to the angel, or to the divine places, according to David's words: "Let us bow to the place where his feet stood"; or to that which was dedicated to him: so all Israel bowed to the tabernacle and the temple in Jerusalem, standing around and constantly bowing to him everywhere; or to the princes whom he chose: as Jacob to Esau, as to the elder brother by God and to Pharaoh the prince appointed by God, and to Joseph his brothers. I also know about the mutual offering of obeisance, as Abraham to the sons of Amor. Therefore, either abolish all obeisance or accept it with due meaning and manner. (1.15) Answer my question: Is God one God? Yes, you will say, I think so, there is one Lawgiver. So does he make contradictory laws? Because cherubim belong to creation. How then does he command that carved cherubim and made by human hands cover the Ark of Atonement (Exodus 25:1820). Isn't it clear that it is impossible to make an icon of God, as indescribable and ineffable, or someone as God, in order not to worship the creation in a manner befitting only God. For the cherubim, on the other hand, as descriptive and as those who as servants stand around the throne of God's command to make an icon (image) of them and to cover the Ark of Atonement in the attitude of service. This is because the icon (image) of the heavenly servants was supposed to cover the icon (image) of the divine secrets. And what do you say about the ark, the vessel (stamna), the Ark of Atonement? Aren't they also handmade? Are not the works of human hands? Are they not made of, as you say, "unholy" matter? What is the whole Tabernacle? Is it not an icon (image)? Is it not a shadow and a foreshadowing? That is why the divine Apostle, speaking of the legal priests, says: "Who serve as a foreshadowing and shadow of heavenly things, as was revealed to Moses when he was to make the Tabernacle. "See, he says, that you make everything according to the pattern shown to you on the Mount" (Heb. 8:5). But the Law was not even an icon, but only a blueprint (of an icon). That is why the same Apostle says: "For the law has only a shadow of things to come, and not the image of things themselves" (Hebrews 10:1). it's not like that, it's not. Rather, it will be that "everything has its time". (1,16) It is true that in ancient times the incorporeal and indescribable God was not depicted at all. Now, however, when he appeared in the flesh and lived with people, what is visible with God is painted. I do not worship matter, but I worship the Creator of matter, the one who became matter for my sake, and chose to dwell in matter, and who achieved my salvation through matter. But I don't respect her like God, God forbid! Because how can that which was created out of nothing be God? If it is true, God's body became immutably God because of hypostatic unity, as anointed but also as remaining what it was by nature: a body imbued with a rational and intelligent soul, begun, not uncreated. And the other matter, through which salvation came to me, I respect and honor, as filled with divine power and grace. Isn't matter a beautiful and thrice blessed baptismal tree? Or isn't matter honorable and holy, Mount the place of the Skull (crucifixion)? Or isn't matter the life-giving and life-giving stone, the Holy Sepulcher, the source of our resurrection? Or isn't matter ink and the holy book of the Gospel? Isn't it matter and the life-giving table that gives us the Bread of Life? or isn't gold and silver the material from which crosses, plates and cups are made. Or, before all this, isn't matter the body and blood of my Lord? Therefore, either reject respect and worship for all this or give way to church tradition and worship of icons of God and friends of God, sanctified by the name, and therefore overshadowed by the grace of the Spirit of God. Do not call matter evil because it is not dishonorable: nothing that God has created is dishonorable. Such an understanding is Manichean. Only that which does not have a cause in God is dishonorable, but represents our fabrication, by the free deviation and striving of the will from what is natural to what is unnatural, and that is exactly what sin is. If you dishonor icons for the sake of the Law and forbid them because they are made of matter, pay attention to what the Holy Scriptures say: "And God said to Moses, saying: behold, I have called by name Beseleil the son of Uriah, the son of Or of the tribe of Judah. And I filled him with the Holy Spirit, wisdom and knowledge and every skill, to shape and work gold and silver and brass and precious stones and porphyry and red thread and purple thread, to know how to cut stones and carve wood and do any work. And I gave him Eliab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan; and to every one with a wise heart I have given wisdom, and he shall do all that I have commanded you" (Ex. 31:16). And again: "Moses said to the whole assembly of the children of Israel: Hear this word, which the Lord commanded, saying: Gather among yourselves a contribution to the Lord. Let every one with a receptive heart offer firstfruits to the Lord... And let every one who is wise in heart among you come and do everything that the Lord has commanded: the tent and everything else" (Ex. 35,45, 1011)... As you can see, matter that is dishonorable to you is worthy of respect. There is What is worse than goat's hair and colors? Look, it is like cherubs. If you forbid icons for the sake of the Law, then you are obliged to celebrate the Sabbath, because that is what the Law requires. Know, however, "that if you keep the law, Christ will benefit you nothing. You who justify yourself by the law, have fallen from grace" (Gal. 5, 2.4). Old Israel did not see God, "but we with unveiled face behold the glory of the Lord" (2Cor 3,18). (I, 17) Thus we place his image visibly everywhere, i.e. the image of the incarnate God Logos and we sanctify first among the senses (and the first among the senses is sight), just as we (sanctify) hearing with words. Because an icon is a reminder: what a book is for the literate, it is an icon for the illiterate; and what a word is to hearing, an icon is to sight. Through it, we mentally unite with him (Christ). That is why God commanded that an ark be made of moth-proof wood and that it be gilded outside and inside, that the tablets of the Law, the rod (of Aaron), the golden vessel with manna be placed in it, for the sake of remembering the events and foreshadowing what will happen, And who would not call these icons (pictures) obvious preachers? And all that was not somewhere on the side in the tent, but in front of the whole people: looking at them, they offered worship and reverence to the God working through it. Of course, not by worshiping these objects, but through them they remembered miracles and offered worship to the miracle-maker God. The images were given to them as a reminder, to be revered not as gods, but as what recalls divine actions. (1.18) God also commanded that twelve stones be taken from the Jordan, so he adds the reason with the words: "To tell when your son asks you what these stones are, how the water in the Jordan dried up by God's command, and the ark of the Lord and all the people crossed over" (Ex. 13:14). The Word became man and not only Israel crossed the Jordan, but the whole nature was restored to the ancient bliss, through which our nature rose from the depths of the earth above every principle and sat on the very throne of the Father. (1.19) OK, you say: Paint the image of Christ and be satisfied with that, or (the image of) his mother, the Virgin. Oh, how inappropriate! With that, you openly admitted that you are an enemy of the Saints! Because if you paint Christ and not the Saints, then it is clear that you are not forbidding the icon but the veneration of the Saints, which since time immemorial no one has dared to do, or even attempt such an audacity. By painting the icon of Christ as glorified, you reject the image of the saints as non-glorified and thereby try to show the truth for a lie. "For I live", says the Lord, "and I glorify those who glorify me"; and the divine Apostle: "Thus you are no more a slave than a son; and if you are a son and heir of God through Christ" (Gal 4:7), and also: "Since we suffer with him, let us also be glorified with him" (Romans 8:17). Obviously, it is not a fight against icons but against the Saints. John the theologian, the closest disciple, says: "that we will be alike for him to be" (1 Jn 3:2). For just as iron, when united with fire, becomes fire, but not by nature but by union and fervor and communion, so the deified man becomes God, not by nature but by communion. Here I am not referring to the body of the incarnated Son of God, because it has become immutable God through hypostatic unity and communion with the divine nature, not anointed by God's energy like every single one of the prophets, but by the full presence of the Anointing One. And that even the Holy Ones become deified by the gods can be seen from what was said: "God stands in the assembly of the gods, he will judge in the midst of the gods" (Ps 81:1); that is when God stands in the midst of the gods to distribute dignities, according to the interpretation of Grigory the Theologian. (1,20) God commanded David to build him a church through his son Solomon and to build him a house of rest, Solomon built it and made cherubim, as the book of Kings says, and covered the cherubim with gold and all the walls around were carved with images of cherubim and palm trees, outside and inside he does not say "on the side" but "around", in addition to oxen and lions and words. Isn't it much more appropriate to decorate the walls of the Lord's house with images of Saints and images, but animals and trees? Where is the law that commands: "do not make yourself a graven image"? But just as Solomon, on whom wisdom was poured out, did not image God by painting cherubim and lions and images of oxen, because the law forbids that, so we do not image God when we make images of the Saints. For just as in those days the church and the people were cleansed with the blood of animals and the ashes of the heifer, so now the Church was built with the blood of Christ "who suffered martyrdom at the time of Pontius Pilate", and showed himself as the first martyr, and also with the holy blood of the Saints. In the same way, then the Lord's house was decorated with figures and images of animals, and now with figures of Saints who made themselves spiritual and ceremonial churches for the dwelling of the living God in the Spirit. (II, 10, sr. III, 9a) Similarly, in the matter of icons, the truth and goal of those who make them should be sought, so if it is true and correct and for the glory of God and his Saints, to encourage virtue and avoid evil and save souls, then they should be received and respected as icons and models and pictures and books for the illiterate; and respect and love, and kiss with eyes and lips and heart as the likeness of the incarnate Christ or his Mother or Saints, sharers in the suffering and glory of Christ and conqueror and destroyer of devils and demons and their deception. And if someone dares to make an icon of an artificial, incorporeal (and invisible and unimaginable and uncolorable) Deity, we reject it as false. If, on the other hand, it pours into glory and worships and honors the devil or demons, we despise it and burn it with fire. If, on the other hand, someone idolizes the image of humans or birds or reptiles or any other creature, we curse him. Because, just as the Holy Fathers destroyed demonic altars and churches and built churches dedicated to the name of God and the Saints in their place, and we respect them, so they also destroyed the images (icons) of demons and placed in their place icons of Christ and his Mother and the Saints, so we also respect them. In the Old Testament, Israel did not build churches dedicated to people, nor was the memory of people celebrated, because human nature was still under a curse, and death was a condemnation, and therefore the body of the deceased was considered impure, as well as the one who would touch it now, since the divinity itself permeated our nature as a kind of life-giving and saving medicine, our nature was glorified and transformed into incorruptibility. That is why the death of the Saints is celebrated and their churches are built and their icons are painted. (II, 11) Let every man know that he who tries to destroy an icon made out of divine love and zeal for the glory and memory of Christ or his Mother the Holy Virgin or any of the Saints, and for the shame of the devil and the victory of him and his demons; and who does not honor and dishonor her and does not kiss her as an honorable icon and not as God is such an enemy of Christ and the Holy Mother of God and the Saints and an advocate of the devil and his demons. In action, he shows grief that God and his Saints are respected and glorified and the devil is put to shame. Because the icon is a victory and a revelation and an obelisk in memory of the victory of those who were great and excellent in battle, the shame of the defeated and the defeated. I have often seen the longing when they see the dress of the one they long for, how they kiss it with their eyes and lips, like the beloved himself. "We should give to everyone what we owe", according to the holy Apostle Paul, "to whom honor is honoured" (Romans 13:7), and "to the king as master, to the princes as his messengers - to each according to the measure of dignity (1 Peter 2:13). (P, 12) It is not for emperors to give laws to the Church. Pay attention to what the divine Apostle says: "God appointed these in the Church: first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly pastors and teachers, for the building up of the Church" (1Cor 12:28; Eph 4:11). He does not mention emperors! And again: "Listen to your elders and obey them because they are watching over your souls" (Heb. 13:17). And again: "Remember your elders, who preached the word of God to you; looking at their lives, be zealous in the faith" (Hebrews 13:7) The kings did not preach the word of God to you, but the prophets and apostles, shepherds and teachers. When God commanded David to build a house for him, he said to him: "You will not build a house for me because you are a man of blood" (1 Day 28:3). "We must give to everyone what we owe". Paul, "to whom honor honor, to whom fear fear, to whom tax tax, to whom custom duty" ( Rom 13,7 ) Kings, therefore, belong to the civil order, and the church organization is for shepherds and teachers. It is a robber's method, brothers! Saul tore Samuel's robe and what did he experience? God tore his kingdom and gave it to the very humble David. Jezebel banished Elijah and the dogs bathed in her blood. Herod cut John and died, eaten by worms. Even now blessed German (Patriarch of Constantinople), who shines with life and word, would be slapped and expelled, and many other bishops and fathers, whose names are not known to us. Isn't that robbery!? The Lord, when the scribes and Pharisees approached him to test him, to catch him in his words, and asked him if he should pay taxes to Caesar, I answered: "Bring me the money". When they brought it, he said: "Whose image does it have?" When they said to him: Caesar's, he said: "Give the Caesar's to the Caesar and God's to God" (Mt 22:17). We will listen to you, O king, in matters concerning everyday life, taxes, customs, giving and taking, in what is entrusted to you from us. In the church organization, we have shepherds who preached the word of God to us and who shaped the church ordinances. We will not move the eternal boundaries, which they set Our fathers, let's keep the traditions as we received them, because if we start to destroy the building of the Church even a little bit, the whole thing will be destroyed. (1,21; II, 15) We describe Christ the King and Lord, but without depriving him of his army. And the Lord's army are Saints. Let the earthly king deprive himself of his army, and only then let him deprive his King and Lord of it. Let him discard the imperial wreath and crown, and only then let him abolish respect for those who defeated the tyrant and reigned over the passions. If they will be heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ and sharers of the divine glory and kingdom, how can they not be friends of Christ and partakers of earthly glory? "I do not call you servants", says God, "you are my friends" (Jn 15:14). Shall we then deprive them of the honor that the Church has given them? What a presumptuous action! What a presumptuous understanding that opposes God and opposes his commandments! If you do not bow to an icon, then do not bow to the Son of God, "who is the icon of the invisible God", alive and unchanging in appearance... I worship the icon of Christ as God incarnate, the Mistress of all, the Mother of God as the Mother of the Son of God, the Saints as friends of God. Those who resisted sin until death and looked to Christ by shedding his blood for him who previously shed his blood for them, and who followed in his footsteps. Therefore, I depict their feats and sufferings, inspired by them, and encouraged to emulate them. And I do this through reverence and worship: "Because the honor of the icon passes to the first image," says the divine Vasilije. If you build churches to the Saints of God, glorify their glorious feats. In ancient times, a church was not built in the name of a man, the death of the righteous was not celebrated but mourned, and the one who would touch the dead, even Moses himself, was considered unclean. And now the memories of the Saints are celebrated: Jacob's death is mourned and the death of Stephen (archdeacon) is celebrated. Therefore, either abolish the solemn commemorations of the Saints that are held against the Old Testament, or allow icons against, as you consider, the Law. However, it would be impossible not to celebrate the memorials of the saints, because the assembly of the holy and God-bearing Apostles commands that it be done. Because since God the Logos became flesh (man) becoming similar to us in everything except sin, since he unmixably united to himself what belongs to us and immutably deified the body, by mutual unmixable union of his divinity and his body, we have truly become sanctified. And since he is the son of God and God. by the deity the insatiable. suffered with the received (body) and wiped out our debt, pouring out for us a precious ransom and good standing (for the blood of the Son is intercessory before the Father and honorable), we have truly gained freedom. And ever since he descended into hell to the bound souls, as if captive, he preached forgiveness, as well as recovery of sight to the blind, binding the mighty with the power of the Almighty, resurrected immortalizing his body received from us, we truly became immortal. Since we were born of water and the Spirit, we were truly adopted and became heirs of God. Hence Paul calls the faithful saints; hence we do not mourn the death of the Saints, but celebrate it. Hence "we are not under the law but under grace", "justified by faith" and knowing the one true God "the righteous is not subject to the law" we are not subject to the elements of the law like children, but having matured into perfect husbands, we feed on solid food, not that which leads to idolatry. It is a good law that shines like a beacon in a dark place, but only until the day dawns. And now it has already shone as a light bearer in our hearts and the living water of the knowledge of God covers the polytheistic sea and we all know the Lord. "The old has passed away, behold, all things have become new" (2Peter 1:19; 2Cor 5:17). That is why the divine Apostle says to the supreme apostle Peter: "When you, who are a Jew, live as a Gentile and not as a Jew, why do you urge the Gentiles to live as a Jew?" (Gal 2:14). And he writes to the Galatians: "I testify again to every man who is circumcised that he is bound to do all the law" (Gal 5:3). (1,22) Once not knowing God, we were slaves to gods who are not, and now knowing God better and being known by God, how can we return to the powerless and miserable elements? I saw the human form of God "and my soul would be saved". I look at the icon of God as Jacob sees it, although differently: he sees it as non-artificial, which foreshadowed with the mind's eyes what will happen, and I see him who appeared in the flesh, a burning memory. They cured diseases, chased away demons: the shadow of the apostles, handkerchiefs and napkins. How then should the shadow and icon of the Saints not be glorified? (Dap 5:15; 19:12) Therefore, either prohibit the respect of the entire art or do not introduce innovations "nor move the eternal boundaries, which your Fathers have set". (I, 23) The eyewitnesses and servants of the Word did not only hand down the written church order, but also some unwritten traditions. Saint Basil in the 27th chapter of his 30 chapters addressed to Amphilochius "On the Holy Spirit" says literally: "Some of the dogmas and teachings in the Church have been preserved from written traditions, and some we have received from the apostolic tradition, transmitted to us secretly. However, both have the same force in relation to piety and the same value. This cannot be denied by anyone who has even a little experience in church institutions. If we try to reject unwritten customs as insignificant, it will escape us to thereby harm what is essential in the Gospel..." And the divine Paul says: "So, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught, either by our word or by the epistle" (2 Thessalonians 2:15). If, then, there are so many things that were handed down to the Church unwritten and preserved until now, then why do you diminish the importance of icons?! (II, 23) Keep in mind that the Law and everything related to it, including all our worship, is a hand-made shrine that brings us to the non-artificial God through artifice. The law and everything related to the law was a kind of blueprint of the future icon, that is. of our service to God, and our service to God is an icon of future goods; on the other hand, the things themselves are the upper Jerusalem, unartificial and unmade. As the same Apostle Paul says: "We have no permanent city here, but we are looking for a future one" (Gal 4:26), which is the upper Jerusalem "whose builder and creator is God" (Hebrews 13:14; 11:10). Because everything that is according to the Law and in connection with our service, was made for him (upper Jerusalem), to him be the glory forever. (III, 12) Calling his disciples blessed, the Lord said: "Many kings and prophets wanted to see what you see and did not see, and to hear what you hear and did not hear" (Mt 13:17). And your eyes are blessed for seeing and ears for hearing! Therefore, the apostles saw Christ in the flesh and his sufferings and miracles and heard his words. We also want to see him and hear him and be called blessed. They him he saw face to face because he was physically present, and we listen to his words as though through books and through him we feel blessed and bow down with respect to the holy books through which we hear his words. So also through the painting of icons we see the pattern of his bodily image and his miracles and sufferings, and we are sanctified and informed and rejoice and feel blessed; and we honor and respect and bow down to his bodily image And looking at his physical form, we understand, as far as possible, the glory of his Divinity. Because we are dual, made of soul and body, and our soul is not naked but covered as if by a curtain, it is impossible for us to reach spiritual things independently of the physical. Just as, therefore, we listen with our physical ears and perceive spiritual things through the sensory word, so also through bodily seeing (contemplation) we arrive at spiritual seeing (contemplation). That is why Christ received a soul and a body, because man himself has a body and a soul. That is why baptism is twofold, with water and the Spirit, and communion and prayer and chanting, everything is twofold, bodily and spiritual, even lamps and lamps. (III, 14) But since we are talking about an icon and worship, we need to explain it in more detail and say: First, what is an icon? Second, what was the icon created for? Third, what kind of icons are there? Fourth, what is imageable and what is unimageable? Fifth, who was the first to paint icons? (III, 15) Then about bowing: First, what is bowing? Second, how many ways are there to worship? Third, how many worshiped things do we find in Scripture? Fourth, about the fact that every worship for the sake of God is worthy of worship. Fifth, that respect for the icon passes to the first image. (III, 16) First, what is an icon? An icon is a likeness (picture) and a representation and image of someone, which shows what is painted. Certainly, the icon is not completely similar to the original image, that is to what is painted, because one is the icon and the other is what is painted, so that you can see the difference between them, since the two are not one and the same. For example: a human image (icon), expresses the features of the body, does not possess mental powers, because it neither lives nor thinks nor speaks nor feels nor moves its limbs. Even the son, who is the natural image (icon) of the father, has something different in relation to him: he is a son and not a father. (III, 17) Second, what was the icon created for? Each icon (picture) reveals and shows what is hidden. For example: since man does not have pure knowledge of what is invisible, because his soul is covered by his body, nor of what will come after him, nor of things that are spatially separated and distant, as a being that is limited by time and place, it is for the purpose of directing knowledge and revealing and publishing hidden things that an icon (image) was found. This is certainly for the benefit and well-being and salvation, so that through the things drawn and visibly shown, they would know what is hidden, then long for what is hidden and be zealous, and reject and hate what is opposite to it, evil. (III, 18) Third, what kinds of icons are there? There are different icons. The first type of icon is natural. In every thing, it must first have what it is by nature, and only then what it is by adoption and imitation. That's how a person must be (that) first by nature and then by adoption by imitation. The first natural and unchanging icon of the invisible God is the Son of the Father, who shows the Father in himself. "No one has ever seen God" and again: "he who has seen the Father does not give" (Jn 1:18; 6:46). And if the Son is the icon of the Father, the Apostle himself says so: "Who is the icon of the invisible God" (Col 1:15), and in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "He who is the brightness of glory and the image of His being" (Heb 1:3). That he shows the Father in himself can be seen in the Gospel of John when, in response to Philip's words: "Show us the Father and we will have enough", the Lord says: "I have been with you for so long, and you have not known me, Philip; he who has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn 14:8). And indeed, the Son is a natural icon of the Father, unchanging, similar to the Father in all respects except for the unbegotten and paternity. Because the Father is the unborn Parent and the Son is born and is not the Father. And the Holy Spirit is the icon of the Son: "because no one can call Jesus Lord except the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 12.3). Through the Holy Spirit we know Christ the Son and God and in the Son we see the Father. Because by its very nature, the word is the messenger of the mind, and the spirit is what announces the word. The Holy Spirit is a completely similar and unchanging icon of the Son, the only difference is in the coming forth, because the Son is born and does not come forth. after all, the son is the natural icon of every father. This is the first kind of natural icon. (III, 19) Another type of icon is the concept in God of his future creation, ie. his pre-eternal counsel, eternally the same. Because the Divine is immutable and its counsel (idea) without beginning. By him, as he predestinedly imagined, so, in the time he predestined, what is determined becomes. Because the icons and blueprints of what becomes of it is the idea of ​​each of them. Their St. Dionysius (Areopagite) also calls it “predestination.” Thus, in his advice (idea), what he predestined and what will inevitably become before his creation is outlined and depicted. (III, 20) The third type of icon is the one that God created by imitation, i.e. man. Because how could he who was created be of the same nature as the uncreated except by imitation? Just as the Mind (Father) and the Word (Son) and the Holy Spirit are one God, so the mind, word and spirit are one man, both in terms of freedom of will and power of government. God Himself says: "Let us create man in our image (icon) and according to our likeness" and immediately adds: "And let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky", and again: "And they will rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and over the whole earth and rule over it" (Genesis 1:26, 28). (III, 21) The fourth type of icon (image) occurs when the Holy Scriptures create images and images of invisible and incorporeal things, physically depicted, for the sake of (at least) a certain understanding of God and angels, because we are not able to perceive what is incorporeal without corresponding images (images), as the profound connoisseur of divine things Dionysius the Areopagite says. The fact that the faces of indescribable things and the forms of what is formless (formless) were shown, it could be said that the only reason for this is not the analogy that corresponds to us, unable to directly rise to mental contemplation (perception), and therefore it is realized in its own and self-related anagogies (ascensions). If, therefore, the divine Word, in thinking about what is suitable for us (analogously), draws from everywhere that which (us) elevates and applies to simple and formless (formless) things, faces, then how can it not form what is by its very nature shaped by faces, that which man longs for but which he is not able to see because it is not present? Saint Gregory says that no matter how hard the mind tries, it is powerless to get out of corporeality (sensuality): "But what is invisible in God since the creation of the world is perceived by the mind in creatures" (Romans 1:20). We also see icons (images) in creatures that hint to us discreetly divine phenomena. Thus, for example, we say that the supreme Holy Trinity is reflected through the sun, light and sunlight, or through a source, a river which also highlights the flow itself, or: the mind and the word and our spirit, or the rose, the flower and the fragrance. (III, 22) The fifth type of icon is called the one that prefigures and foreshadows future events, like the blackberry (Ex. 3:2) and the dew that fell on the fleece (Judg. 6:40) on the Virgin Mary; also the scepter (Numbers 17:10) and stamna (Ex. 16:33). Thus, the snake foreshadowed those who destroyed the cunning serpent with the cross (Numbers 21:9), and the sea, water and cloud of the Spirit of baptism. (III, 23) The sixth type of icon, these are those images that represent the memory of events or miracles or virtues, for the glory and honor and marking of virtuous and virtuous people, or the image of vice, for the sake of victory and shame of evil people, for the later benefit of those who worship, so that they avoid evil and be zealous in virtue. This type of icon is twofold: it is written in books through words, because the letter represents the word, just as God engraved the Law in tablets (Ex. 31:18; 32:16) and commanded that the lives of God-loving people be recorded; and through sensory viewing, as God commanded to put stamens and scepters in the ark of the covenant for eternal remembrance and as he ordered that the names of the tribes be sculpted on the stones of the bracelets (Ex. 28:21). And not only that, but also to take 12 stones from the Jordan to mark the priests (wonderful and truly great secrets!) who carried the ark and the disappearance of water (Nab. 4:3-9). In the same way, we also now lovingly paint icons of people adorned with virtue for the sake of our memory and comparison. Therefore, either forbid every image and establish a law contrary to the One who commanded that it be done this way, or accept every one, according to the meaning and type of each one of them. (III, 24) In the fourth chapter, we will talk about what can be painted and what cannot be painted, and how each individual is painted. It is natural to paint bodies that have shapes and body description and color. Angels, on the other hand, and the soul and the demon are also shaped and described by their nature, although not corporeally and crudely, because being spiritual, it is believed that they are present in spiritual places and spiritually active. And they are pictured bodily, as Moses depicted the cherubim and as they appeared to be worthy, but that bodily image indicates some incorporeal and spiritual vision. The divine nature is the only one that is indescribable and perfectly inconceivable and indescribable and incomprehensible, although the divine Scripture ascribes to God faces, to the appearance of the body, so that forms (shapes) can be seen, and the incorporeal ones themselves. Because the prophets and those to whom they revealed themselves looked at them not with physical but with spiritual eyes, so that they were not visible to everyone. Simply put, we can paint icons of all faces (ghosts) that we have seen, and we understand them as they appeared. Sometimes it happens that we understand faces (ghosts) from words, however, we come to their understanding based on what we have seen. It is the same with every sense: on the basis of what we have smelled or tasted or touched, we reach their understanding through words. (III, 25) We have seen, therefore, that it is not possible to see the nature of either God or angels, or souls or demons. However, this can be seen in some form of transformation, in that the divine providence gives what is incorporeal and unimaginable and without corporeal formation faces and forms, for the sake of our guidance and for the sake of at least arbitrary (rough) and partial knowledge of them, so that we are not in complete ignorance of God and incorporeal creatures. God is perfectly incorporeal by nature, the angel, on the other hand, both the soul and the demon, compared to God, are the only incomparable bodies, and (compared to) artificial bodies are incorporeal. That is why God, not wanting us to remain in complete ignorance of incorporeal beings, clothed them with faces and forms of typosis; and images (icons), he gave them bodily forms, analogous to our nature, seen by the non-artificial vision of the mind. We shape and paint them, just as the cherubs were shaped and painted in a way. But the Holy Scriptures also have God's faces () and icons (pictures). (III, 26) Who painted the icon first? God Himself first gave birth to His Only Begotten Son, His living icon, the natural, unchanging image of His eternity. He also created man in his own image (icon) and likeness (Genesis 1:26). And Adam saw God and heard the sound of his feet as he walked in the evening, and hid himself in Paradise (Genesis 3:8). And Jacob saw God and wrestled with him (Genesis 32:24), which means that God appeared to him as a man. And Moses sees him as the background of a man (Ex. 33:23) and Isaiah as a man they see him sitting on a throne (Is. 6:1). Daniel also saw the form of a man and as the Son of Man, who came to the Ancient of Days (Dan. 7:13). But no one has seen the nature of God, but only the face () and the icon (image) of what will happen in the future. Because it was necessary for the invisible Son and Logos of God to become a true man, in order to unite with our nature and appear on earth. That is why all those who saw the face and icon (image) of the future prostrated themselves, as the Apostle Paul says in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "All these died in faith, not waiting for the fulfillment of the promise, but they saw them from afar and kissed them" (Hebrews 11:13). Shouldn't I then paint an icon of the One who for my sake became visible by the nature of the body and should I not worship him and honor him by bowing and honoring the icon? Abraham saw not the nature of God ("No one has ever seen God", Jn. 1:18) but the icon of God, and falling on his face he worshiped (Genesis 17:17). Joshua saw not the nature of an angel, but an icon (image) (the nature of an angel cannot be seen with the eyes of the body) and falling down he worshiped (Is. Nav. 5:14); likewise Daniel (an angel is not God but a creature and a servant who is before God) bowed to the angel not as God, but as God's minister (Dan. 8:18). Why should I not also worship the icons of Christ's friends, not as gods, but as icons of God's friends? Because neither Jesus nor Daniel bowed down to the angels that they saw as gods. So I do not bow down to icons as to God, but through icons and saints I offer worship and honor to God. Because God did not unite with the nature of angels, but united with the nature of men. God did not become an angel, but God became a true man by nature: "For indeed do not join yourselves to the angels, but join yourselves to the seed of Abraham" (Hebrews 2:16). The nature of angels did not become the Son of God by hypostasis, but human nature became the Son of God by hypostasis (personality). Angels did not join or become partakers of the divine nature, but of energy and grace, and people join and become partakers of the divine nature (2Peter 1:4): those people who partake of Christ's holy body and drink his holy blood. Because (human nature) is united hypostasically with the Godhead, so that the two natures are united inseparably in the body of Christ which we partake of, and we share with the two natures, the bodies of the Godhead spiritually, rather we identify ourselves with each other (because first we exist and then we are united). permeation of flesh and blood. So how are those who keep the commandments not greater than the angels? Our nature is somewhat diminished from that of the angels due to the death and sluggishness of the body, but through favor and union with God, it has become greater than the angels. Because before her who sits on the throne of glory in Christ, the angels stand with fear and trembling and will stand before her terrified on the Day of Judgment. The Holy Scriptures do not call them companions and partakers of the divine nature ("for all the spirits who worship God are pointed to the service of those who will inherit salvation", Heb 1:14), nor that they will serve or be glorified, nor that they will sit at the Father's table, and the Saints are called sons of God and heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ. That is why I respect the Saints and glorify the servants and friends and joint heirs of Christ, servants by nature and friends by free choice and sons and heirs by divine grace, as the Lord says to the Father. Since we talked about the icon, let's say something about bowing, first of all: what is bowing? (III, 27) About bowing down. What is giving? Bowing is a sign of submission, submission and humility. There are many types (ways) of bowing. (III, 28) How many types (ways) of worship are there? The first type (way) of worship is the worship of God, which we offer only worship by nature to a worthy God, and that in various ways. First, in the way of serving Him, all creatures worship Him as servants of the Lord, because the Scripture says: "Everything and everything serves You" (Ps. 118:91), some do it willingly, others involuntarily. Some worship Him willingly and consciously, as the pious do, and others, knowing Him and unwillingly, worship Him unwillingly like demons. Still others, not knowing God by nature, unwillingly worship Him whom they do not know. (III, 29) The second way is the way of admiration and longing for God, in which we worship God for his natural glory. Because he is the only one glorified, not in the sense that he has glory from someone else, but because he himself is the cause of all glory and all good, light inconceivable, sweetness inexpressible, abyss of goodness, wisdom unexamined, beauty indescribable, omnipotent power, the only one worthy of admiration, worship, praise and worship. (III, 30) The third way is the way of gratitude for the good things that have happened for our sake. Because all beings are obliged to give thanks to God and to offer him eternal worship, because everything has existence from him and is contained in him, and because he gives everyone abundantly of his gifts and without asking, and wants everyone to be saved and participate in his goodness. He is long-suffering because of our sins, he shines the sun on the righteous and the unrighteous and pours rain on the bad and the good. And because the Son of God became what we are, and made us partakers of the divine nature, because "we will be like him" as John the Theologian says in the Council Epistle (1 Jn 3:2). (III, 31) The fourth way is the way of deprivation and hope for charity, on the basis of which we know that without him we cannot do anything or have any good: we each offer ourselves by asking him what we need and what we long for, to avoid evil and obtain good. (III, 32) The fifth way is the way of repentance and confession. Because when we sin, we bow down and belong to God, praying for the forgiveness of sins as grateful servants. This way is threefold: a person grieves either out of love, or not to deprive himself of God's benefactions, or because he is afraid of hell. The first way is out of gratitude and love for God himself and a filial disposition, the second is mercenary, and the third is slave. (III, 33) What do we find in the Holy Scriptures for worship and what are all the ways in which we offer worship to creatures? In the first place are those (creatures) on whom God rested, the only holy one and "resting in the saints", as in the Holy Mother of God and all the Saints. These are those who, as much as possible, conformed to God through their free will and God's indwelling and cooperation; they are also truly called gods, but not by nature but by adoption, just as red-hot iron is called fire, but not by nature but by adoption and receiving fire. says: "Be holy, because I am holy" ( Leviticus 19:2 ). First, there is freedom of will. Then, God cooperates with everyone who freely chooses good, and then: "I will dwell in them and live in them" ( 2 Cor 6:16 ); and "we are the churches of God and the Spirit of God dwells in us" ( 1 Cor 3:16 ); and then "he gave them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out and to heal them, every disease and every weakness" (Mt 10:1), and "what I do, you will do and more than that" (Jn 14:12), and also: "I live", says the Lord, "but I will glorify those who glorify me" (1 Kings 2:30), and "if we suffer for him, let us also be glorified" (Romans 8:17), and "God will stand in the assembly of the gods, in the midst of the gods he will judge" (Ps 81:1). They are indeed gods, but not by nature, but as partakers of God by nature. So they are also worthy of worship, but not by nature, but as those who have in themselves by nature worthy of worship, just as red-hot iron is not by nature inaccessible to touch and flaming, but like what is common with natural fire. We worship them as those who have been glorified by God, as those who have become terrible to enemies and benefactors to those who approach them with faith, not as gods by nature and benefactors, but as ministers and liturgists of God and as those who have gained boldness out of love for him. We bow to them because it serves the Emperor, who sees how his beloved servant is respected, not as an emperor, but as an obedient servant and benevolent friend. And those who approach with faith receive according to prayers, whether the servant asks for it from the emperor, or the emperor receives the honor and faith of the one who asks through his servant, because he asked for it. This is how those who approached (God) through the apostles were healed; so the shadow and napkins and belts of the apostles gave healings (Acts 5:15; 19:12). Those, on the other hand, who want to be worshiped as gods in a rebellious and apostate way, are unworthy of such worship and worthy of eternal fire. And those who, out of contempt and pride, do not respect the servants of God, as haughty and haughty, are as reprehensible as those who dishonor God. The witnesses of this are the children who mocked Elisha and therefore fell prey to bears (4 Kings 2:23,24). (III, 34) The second way is the one in which we bow to the creatures through whom and in whom God worked our salvation, either before the coming of the Lord, or after his establishment in the body, such as: Mount Sinai and Nazareth, the manger in Bethlehem and the cave, holy Golgotha, the tree of the Cross, the wedges, the sponge. reed, holy spear and saving garment, chiton, diapers, mantle. the holy grave, the source of our salvation, the tombstone, the holy Mount of Zion, also the Mount of Olives, the Sheep Bath, the Garden of Gethsemane. All this and everything similar to it I respect and bow to it, and every church of God is holy, and everything in which God is named, and this is not because of their nature, but because they are vessels of divine energy and that through them and through them God chose to accomplish our salvation. Because I respect and bow down to both angels and people and every skill that has become a sharer of divine energy and served my salvation, precisely for the sake of divine energy. However, I do not worship the Jews because they are not partakers of divine energy, nor did they crucify the Lord of glory, my God, with the aim of my salvation, but before God and benefactor, attacking with hatred and envy. "Lord, I have loved the beauty of your house", says David, and the dwelling place of your glory" (Ps 25:8). Also, "bow down to the place where his feet stood" (Ps 98:5), and more: "Bow down to his holy mountain" (Ps 98:9). The holy mountain of God is the Holy Mother of God, and the apostles of God worship the mountains: "the mountains danced like rams, and the hills like lambs of the sheep" (Ps 113:4). (III, 35) The third way is the one in which we pay homage to what is consecrated to God, the holy gospels and other books: "for it was written for our instruction, on which the end of the ages will come" (1 Cor 10:11). Disks, chalices, censers, lamps and tables, it is clear that all of these are worthy of respect. Because, look, when Belshazzar ordered the people to use sacred vessels, how God destroys his kingdom (Dan 5:28). (III, 36) The fourth way is that in which we worship the faces that were revealed to the prophets (they saw God in iconic visions), as well as the faces (icons) of what will happen. They are: Aaron's rod, which depicts the mystery of the Virgin, both the living room and the table; and Jacob bowed down at the top of the staff, and he was the archetype of the Savior. This also includes the faces (images) of what happened, as a memorial, for example: the tabernacle that depicted the whole world (for, behold, God says to Moses: "I showed you a face on the Mount" (Ex. 25:40), golden cherubs, sculpted, and cherubs on the curtain, embroidered. Thus we worship the face of the holy cross, the physical image of my God, the one who gave birth to him and his servants. (III, 37) The fifth way is the one in which we bow down to one another, as partakers of God and created in God's image, calming down before one another and fulfilling the law of love. (III, 38) The sixth way refers to the chiefs and those who have power ("give, it was said, to everyone what belongs to them, to whom honor is honoured" Rom 13:7). Thus Jacob bowed to his older brother Esau (Genesis 33:3), and Pharaoh, the ruler appointed by God (Genesis 47:7). (III, 39) The seventh way is when slaves present themselves to their masters and benefactors and supplicants to those who need them, like Abraham to the sons of Emor, when he bought a sugubu cave from them (Genesis 23:9). (III, 40) Simply put, bowing is a symbol of awe, love and honor, submission and humility. However, no one should be worshiped as God, except the only God by nature, and others should all be given what belongs to them for the Lord's sake. (III, 41) See what virtue and what divine power is given to those who approach the holy icons with faith and a clear conscience. Therefore, brothers, let us stand on the rock of faith and tradition of the Church, not moving the boundaries set by our Holy Fathers, not yielding to those who want to introduce innovations and destroy the building of God's holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Because if everyone is allowed to do what they want, little by little the whole body of the Church will be destroyed. No, brothers! No, Christ-loving child of the Church! Do not shame our mother, do not deprive her of her ornaments! Receive her who prays for me! Learn what God says about her: "You are all beautiful, my neighbor, and there is no spot on you" (Song of Songs. 4:7). Let's worship and worship the only Creator and Creator as by the nature of worshiping a worthy God. Let us worship the Holy Mother of God, not as God, but as the Mother of God in the flesh. Let us also worship the Saints as chosen friends of God and those who have gained courage towards him. Because if people bow down to rotten emperors, very often ungodly and sinful, and princes whom they have set up as statues, in accordance with the apostolic word: "Submit to the principalities and powers" (Tim 3:1), and "render to everyone what is theirs, to whom honor honor, to whom fear fear" (Romans 13:7), and according to the word of the Lord: "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God" (Mt 22:21) ); how much more do we have to bow down to the King of kings, as the only one who rules by nature, and to his friends and servants who have mastered the passions and become rulers over the whole earth ("you will make them", says David, "rulers over the whole earth" Ps 44:17 ); who have received power over demons and diseases and who will reign with Christ in an incorruptible and indestructible kingdom. Their very shadow drove away diseases and demons! Therefore, let's not think that the icon is more powerless than the shadow, because it truly outlines the first person. Brethren, a Christian is faith. That is why he who approaches with faith will gain much, and "he who hesitates is like a wave of the sea, driven and agitated by the wind" (Jacob 1:6), such a person will gain nothing. Because all the Saints have pleased God with faith. Therefore, let us accept the tradition of the Church with a true heart and not with many thoughts. God created man true and people seek many thoughts. We will not allow the teaching of a new faith as contrary to the tradition of the Holy Fathers. therefore, we bow down to the icons, not to the material, but to those who are painted on them. (III, 42) And you, the most holy flock of Christ, Christ-named nations, holy nations, the body of the Church, may Christ fill you with the joy of his resurrection and may he make you worthy to follow in the footsteps of the holy shepherds and teachers of the Church and to gain his glory in the splendor of the Saints. May they all obtain it by his grace, so that they may glorify him eternally, with the beginningless Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.